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By Root 959 0

and dominate was uppermost. And the standards that were in place revolved around your “street presence.” Education had no street presence. It was not tangible in that it did not make you tougher, better able to fight, more feared by those around you. Sure, it was something to talk about, but you couldn’t use it in the same way that you could a pair of fast fists. Smart was good, but having the ability to beat someone senseless! Now that was real power. Education was often talked about in the apartment, but always with the implied threat that if your marks weren’t acceptable, be ready to give your soul to God because your ass belonged to our father. It seemed that it was just another excuse (as if one was needed) to justify the violence that would be visited upon the failing student. And A’s weren’t acceptable.

It is in a way unfortunate that all the brothers were good with their fists. If we hadn’t been, maybe Kevin’s life would have taken a different twist. Most of our ability to fight came from withstanding the blows that our dad would throw at us. We aren’t talking about slapping here. You had to be able to take a pretty good shot early on. Hell, you could get punched for blinking too much—true!

Kevin ended up following in his older brothers’ footsteps. Because we were able to fight, he had to as well. And he had to be better—that was also a rule—you had to outdo whoever preceded you. Kev was and is tough. But he is toughest in the streets, where there are no refs to make sure that the rules are followed, no bell to end a round, and definitely no decisions given on points. An incident occurred when he and Jack were arguing in the apartment in front of our parents. Jack, not wanting to continue the disagreement in front of them, asked Kevin to step outside. Kev said, “Sure,” and let Jack lead the way out the door. Jack had taken only a step or two when Kev suckered him, dropping him to the floor. Kevin felt no remorse, as he had been drilled to never give any opponent an advantage. The interesting thing is that our father was not upset, but rather proud that one son would cold-cock another!

So Kevin’s story is that of a smart, affable kid who was encouraged to make wrong choices. James “Whitey” Bulger got him at the age of eighteen, but he had been schooled in the ways of the streets since he was old enough to make a fist.

They say that you can take the kid out of Southie but you can’t take Southie out of the kid. That is true. You are always from Southie wherever you go. People from Southie do not, when asked where they are from, say “Boston.” They say “Southie.” It is a fact that you do not run away from, do not deny, and are not ashamed of. There are many negative stereotypes that are laid on people from Southie—racists, thugs, ignorant, and so forth—and Southie has always been a convenient place to look down on and feel superior to. But there are a great many good and decent people who hail from there and continue to dwell in that peninsula jutting into Boston Harbor. One thing that so many people not from Southie could never comprehend is the camaraderie that was so evident. In a way it was like a big unruly family, with internal feuds and bickering, but a united front against anyone not of the clan. As they say, when you are in a foxhole, you hope that the person next to you hails from Southie—you know he will have your back.

And like any family, Southie always had its black sheep, usually a whole flock of them. The blackest was Whitey Bulger. He was incredibly violent in a neighborhood that normally took violence in stride. Jimmy brought it to a different level, and Kevin found himself attracted to it. Kev was already a student of the art, and an excellent one at that.

Fighting teaches you to not think about the punch, just to throw it. There are times when you connect and knock someone senseless and not realize immediately that it was you who threw the punch. You are trained to react. In effect, a fast muscle twitch occurs before your brain has the time to process it. You see and react without thought. If